The 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the eleventh draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It is a two-day event, taking place on the April 10 and April 11 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States.
Background[]
On the April 3 episode of Raw, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that on the April 10 and April 11 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, "it's time to shake things up around here", effectively announcing the 2017 draft, or what was labeled the "Superstar Shake-Up". Instead of a traditional draft, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle and SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan have the "opportunity to make trades, deals and other moves that they feel fit".
Selection[]
Raw[]
The following is the list of wrestlers and other personnel who changed brands on the April 10 episode of Raw. The first and last two entries happened before and after the show, respectively. Although not part of the Superstar Shake-up, NXT's Elias Samson made his main roster debut on Raw.
| Pick # | Brand (to) | Employee | Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | Apollo Crews | Male Superstar | SmackDown | Announced prior to Raw via WWE's social media. |
| 2 | Raw | The Miz | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 3 | Raw | Maryse | Manager | SmackDown | |
| 4 | Raw | Dean Ambrose | Male Superstar | SmackDown | Bringing the WWE Intercontinental Champion to Raw. |
| 5 | Raw | Curt Hawkins | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 6 | Raw | Bray Wyatt | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 7 | Raw | Kalisto | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 8 | Raw | Heath Slater | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 9 | Raw | Rhyno | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 10 | Raw | Elias Samson | Male Superstar | NXT | |
| 11 | Raw | Alexa Bliss | Female Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 12 | Raw | Mickie James | Female Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 13 | Raw | David Otunga | Male Announcer | SmackDown | Announced after Raw via WWE's social media. Traded for Byron Saxton. |
SmackDown Live[]
The following is the list of wrestlers who changed brands on SmackDown Live on April 11. The first entry happened before the show.
| Pick # | Brand (to) | Employee | Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SmackDown | Byron Saxton | Male Announcer | Raw | Announced after Raw via WWE's social media. Traded for David Otunga. |
| 2 | SmackDown | Jinder Mahal | Male Superstar | Raw | Announced prior to SmackDown Live via WWE's social media. |
| 3 | SmackDown | Kevin Owens | Male Superstar | Raw | United States Champion. If Chris Jericho wins the United States Championship at Payback, he will replace Owens on SmackDown and Owens will go back to Raw. |
| 4 | SmackDown | Sami Zayn | Male Superstar | Raw | |
| 5 | SmackDown | The Shining Stars (Primo & Epico) | Male Superstars | Raw | Moved to SmackDown as a tag team. |
| 6 | SmackDown | Tamina Snuka | Female Superstar | Free Agent | Tamina went undrafted in the 2016 WWE draft as she was out for injury. The Superstar Shake-up was her first appearance on WWE television since before the 2016 draft. |
| 7 | SmackDown | Charlotte Flair | Female Superstar | Raw | |
| 8 | SmackDown | Sin Cara | Male Superstar | Raw | |
| 9 | SmackDown | Rusev | Male Superstar | Raw | Currently out of action due to shoulder surgery that he received in March 2017. |
| 10 | SmackDown | Lana | Female Superstar | Raw | Drafted separately from her husband Rusev. |
| 11 | SmackDown | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) | Male Superstars | Raw | Moved to SmackDown as a stable. Kofi Kingston is currently out due to an ankle injury. |
See also[]
External links[]
| WWE Draft |
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